Selected Issues of Adaptive Water Management on the Example of the Białka River Basin

Water is a fundamental resource needed for human life and functioning and the environment. Water management requires a comprehensive, adaptive approach that also considers the dynamics of changes in the water management system. This is particularly important in areas where different groups of stakeholders intertwine, whose needs often contradict, which hampers effective water management, particularly in places of high natural value. This research aimed to analyze selected issues in water management in the Białka River Basin in Southern Poland. The analysis was based on a review of scientific publications, internet sources, and a survey on water management in the basin. Our research shows that the dominant issues in the study area are the flood risk and water pollution related to, among other factors, the intensive development of tourism. Moreover, the effective management of water resources is hampered by poor communication between the administration and stakeholders, which results in a low level of knowledge, negative attitudes towards nature protection, and the emergence of conflicts. The main conclusion of this paper indicates that, despite the existing social potential for implementing comprehensive water management methods, the lack of an appropriate legal framework prevents the implementation of concepts such as Adaptive Water Management.

Applying Optimization to Support Adaptive Water Management of Rivers

Adaptive water management is a promising management paradigm for rivers that addresses the uncertainty of decision consequences. However, its implementation into current practice is still a challenge. An optimization assessment can be framed within the adaptive management cycle allowing the definition of environmental flows (e-flows) in a suitable format for decision making. In this study, we demonstrate its suitability to mediate the incorporation of e-flows into diversion management planning, fostering the realization of an adaptive management approach. We used the case study of the Pas River, Northern Spain, as the setting for the optimization of surface water diversion. We considered e-flow requirements for three key river biological groups to reflect conditions that promote ecological conservation. By drawing from hydrological scenarios (i.e., dry, normal, and wet), our assessment showed that the overall target water demand can be met, whereas the daily volume of water available for diversion was not constant throughout the year. These results suggest that current the decision making needs to consider the seasonal time frame as the reference temporal scale for objectives adjustment and monitoring. The approach can be transferred to other study areas and can inform decision makers that aim to engage with all the stages of the adaptive water management cycle.

Tooling in engaging stakeholders in adaptive water management with Nature-based solutions: reflections from an online NGT approach through the perspectives of the water professionals

<p>The global water sector is changing and it is in need of more evidence-based responses of emerging global, regional, national and local challenges. Communities are seeking interventions which achieve multiple benefits and outcomes such as: improved quality of water bodies, reduced greenhouse emissions, reliably delivered water for human use but also some that are rather urgent like: flood-risk management. In order to take into account the environmental, technological, economic, institutional and cultural characteristics of river basins, we need to move from current management regimes towards more adaptive regimes with the use of Nature-based solutions (NbS) instead of traditional 'grey' engineering approaches. Quite a vast amount of tools have been developed throughout the years for achieving this transition. This paper identifies the challenges and opportunities that water professionals face when using these tools in the process of planning NbS. An online tailor-made approach, based on a modified nominal group technique (NGT) and Multi-criteria analysus (MCA) was developed and applied. The NGT-based assessment of these tools consists of two rounds during which participants were asked to reflect first individually, and then collectively about the prerequisites and implications of these tools in the process of planning NbS. The participants are water professionals from the European project Co-Adapt. Here we presented one approach where new scientific methods and practical tools are developed for participatory assessment and implementation of adaptive water management.</p>

How scale matters in joint knowledge production for nature-based solutions. Dynamic proximity among stakeholders in climate adaptive water management for brook catchment Aa, the Netherlands

<p>The question ‘how scale matters’ from experienced policy makers in adaptive water management motivated us to explore the issue. In search for climate resilience of brook catchments stakeholders collaborate. Those collaborations involve dynamic proximity, giving rise to innovative, creative solutions using natural hydrological and landscape processes. Dynamic proximity is known from innovation research in the field of high-tech regional economic development. The question is whether dynamic proximity among stakeholders influences success of joint knowledge production (JKP) processes as well. We focus on a more nature-tech context of regional economic development: creating nature-based solutions (NbS) to support climate resilience. The conceptual model to study the creative process of JKP combines the four dimensions of JKP with four forms of dynamic proximity. Along this matrix quotes of stakeholders were analysed from seven semi-structured interviews. At least one stakeholder in the process for the brook-restoration of the Aa (the Netherlands) was selected from industry, academia, government and non-profit organizations (following the ‘quadruple helix model’). Findings show that stakeholders who are versatile in using various forms of social, cognitive, institutional and geographical dynamic proximity in the process of JKP experience the process as more successful. Moreover, stakeholders overdoing the institutional or geographical aspects of proximity run into adverse effects, a mechanism recognized in economic geography as the proximity paradox. Furthermore, stakeholders are better supported when they use knowledge instruments, but only when keeping in mind the balance of forms of dynamic proximity. Findings were validated against two stakeholders’ experiences in another process for the Aa of Weerijs (the Netherlands). We suggest refining the model by adding two forms of dynamic proximity relating to interests and to resources, enabling a sharper focus on knowledge production under the heading of cognitive proximity. So, scale matters in such rural, natural processes. The perspective on proximity helps innovation, if proximity among stakeholders does not become too proximate. We have summarised findings in the form of a proximity tool, which is useful for optimizing the science-policy interface in regional adaptive water management.</p>

The rise of compound warm-season droughts in Europe

Drought is one of the main threats to food security and ecosystem productivity. During the past decades, Europe has experienced a series of droughts that caused substantial socioeconomic losses and environmental impacts. A key question is whether there are some similar characteristics in these droughts, especially when compared to the droughts that occurred further in the past. Answering this question is impossible with traditional single-index approaches and also short-term and often spatially inconsistent records. Here, using a multidimensional machine learning–based clustering algorithm and the hydrologic reconstruction of European drought, we determine the dominant drought types and investigate the changes in drought typology. We report a substantial increase in shorter warm-season droughts that are concurrent with an increase in potential evapotranspiration. If shifts reported here persist, then we will need new adaptive water management policies and, in the long run, we may observe considerable alterations in vegetation regimes and ecosystem functioning.